Given the height of pick-up truck beds, it is often difficult for the user of the pick-up truck to access the cargo bed over the side of the bed. Storage space for smaller, such as personal items, on a pick-up truck is somewhat limited because of the configuration of the cargo bed cannot readily accommodate these small items. Storage compartments on the lateral sides of pick-up trucks are well known in the art to enhance the tool-carrying and small item storage capabilities of pick-up trucks without departing from the cargo-carrying capabilities of the bed. Such storage compartments are found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,018, issued to Scott Clare on Feb. 29, 2000, which depicts lateral storage compartments on the side of the pick-up truck both forwardly and rearwardly of the rear axle, with the doors thereof opening horizontally being supported by generally vertical hinge axes.
A storage compartment for a pick-up truck can be found in U. S. Pat. No. 6,129,401, issued to Dorinel Neag, on Oct. 10, 2000, in which the storage compartment is located at the back of the rear quarter panel behind the rear axle of the pick-up truck. The structure of the storage compartment in the Neag patent incorporates a lid that when closed allows the storage bin to be opened without having stored items therein inadvertently fall out. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,726,398, issued to F. C. Limbocker on Aug. 27, 1929, a pivoted lid is provided on the running board to permit access to a tool compartment within the running board. The door of this compartment opens vertically and is horizontally disposed when closed to provide a contiguous top surface of the running board.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,922, issued to Raymond Blanchard on Apr. 1, 1997, a storage compartment is located forwardly of the rear axle and extends into the bed substantially in alignment with the wheel well internally of the cargo bed. This storage compartment includes a vertically opening door that forms a part of the vertical side of the pick-up truck; however, there is no teaching within this reference that the door can be used to access the interior of the cargo bed, other than what is enclosed by the storage compartment through the opening created by the pivoted door.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,341, issued to Thomas Jensen on May 9, 2000, the entire lateral side of the cargo bed portion of the pick-up truck is formed as a single storage compartment door, opening up the cavity between the door, which forms the exterior surface of the cargo bed, and the interior wall of the cargo bed. As with the Blanchard patent, there is no teaching that the vertically movable door can be utilized as a step to enhance access to the interior of the cargo bed. In fact, the overall length of the door member suggests that a substantial weight would not be supported on the door member when opened to gain access into the storage compartment.
A step mounted on the lateral side of a pick-up truck is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,303, issued to Brad Watson on Mar. 18, 2003, to enhance access into the cargo bed. The step in Watson is pivoted on the lateral side of the cargo bed adjacent the operator's cab of the truck and is movable into extended and retracted positions. While this step is intended to support the weight of a person trying to gain access over the side of the cargo bed, the step does not form a door on a storage compartment and there is no teaching or suggestion within the patent that the step is associated in any manner with a storage compartment. In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2001/0024023, a step is attached to the vehicle chassis above a drawer; however, like the Watson patent, the step does not form a door for a storage compartment and is not otherwise associated with the storage compartment.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a storage compartment on the lateral side of a pick-up truck where the hinges for the vertically opening door would be concealed when the door is closed, and where the door would be formed in a manner that would support the normal weight of a person so as to facilitate the access of the cargo bed over the side thereof when the door to the storage compartment is opened into a horizontally extending position.